The present invention relates to axially and radially adjustable means for firmly gripping the bead and filler material and to means for positioning the bead and filler material perpendicular to the axis of rotation of a tire building machine as the clamp lock means lock the beads to the tire carcass in the tire building machine.
In the past, it has been the practice in the use of tire building machines to apply the tire carcass material in cylindrical form about the tire building drum and then position the tire bead substantially concentrically to the drum while expanding the clamp lock means on the tire building machine. Such positioning has included the use of split rings, magnets and register rings to move the bead and approximate its location with respect to the clamp lock means on the tire building machine. However, it has been found that such positioning of the tire bead, although sometimes providing for the manufacture of uniform and cylindrical tires with the tire beads being positioned approximately equal distance from the center-line of the tire, fails to consistently provide a method of building tires which results in uniform tire construction.
Moreover, the utilization of a combination of bead and filler material in building tires has rendered these mechanical devices inapplicable. One solution to the problem of aligning the tire bead and filler material circumferentially about a tire carcass is suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,680. In this patent, a member having a plurality of suction cups therein engages the uncured filler material on the bead to somehow hold and retain the bead and filler material while the bead is positioned over the clamp lock means of a tire building machine. However, because the uncured filler material is easily deformed, such a device which utilizes suction cups to engage and hold only the easily deformed bead filler material fails to properly maintain the bead portion of the bead and filler material perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the tire building apparatus. Such inconsistencies in the proper alignment of the bead to the clamp lock means on a tire building machine results in the production of tires wherein the tire beads are not uniformly spaced from the center-line of the tire.